Improvement in pocket-knives



' W. T. WHITEHOUSE Pocket-Knife.

No'. 199,766. Patented Jan. 29,1878.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM T. WHITEHOUSE, OF BQSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMIENT INPOCKET-KNIVES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 199,766, dated January29, 1878; application filed October 25,1877,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM T. WHITE- HOUSE, of Boston, in the county ofSuffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a Self-Opening Knife,of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description,reference beinghad to the accompanyin gdrawin gs, making part of thisspecification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my knifeclosed. Fig. 2 is aperspective view, representing the knife opened in aposition ready for use. Fig. 3 is alongitudinal section. Fig. 4 is aplan of one side of the blade detached. Fig. 5 is a plan of thecontiguous side of the lining and bolster. Fig. 6 is a transversesection on the line a; m of Fig. 3. Fig. 7 is a transverse section onthe line 51 y of Fig. 3.

My prevent invention consists in a selfopening knife in which the bladeis pivoted, and automatically thrown open by a spring interposed betweenthe heel of the blade and the adjacent portion of the handle, the bladebeing released by means of a catch, which also serves to lock itsecurely when thrown open ready for use or closed within the handle, theknife being readily opened or closed by one hand, all as hereinaftermore fully described and claimed.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand and use my invention,Iwill proceed to describe the manner in which I have carried it out.

In the said drawings, A represents the knife-handle, and B its blade,pivoted on a pin, a, passing through the bolsters b 0, projecting fromthe ends of the lining d of the handle, the pin a being prevented fromturning within the bolsters by a small lockingpin, 1', extendingtransversely through it, or in any other suitable manner.

The heel of the blade is provided with a circular recess, 6, concentricwith the aperture through which the pin a passes, and extending abouthalf-way through the thickness of the blade, and in line with thisrecess 6 is formed within the contiguous bolster Z) a similar recess, f,the two recesses e f constituting a chamber for the reception of a flatcoiled spring, h, one end of which is secured to the blade, and theother to the pin a, on which the blade is pivoted, the spring being ofsufficient The back 15 of the handle A does not act as a spring on theheel of the blade, the end of whichis rounded, as seen in Fig. 4, andsimply moves in contact with the back without being actuated thereby.

The catch-lever c is pivoted at 12 between two lugs, k, projectingfromthe lining d, and fits in a recess formed in the handle, lying flushtherewith, excepting a projection, l, at its inner end, which isdepressed by the thumb, (against the resistance of a spring, m,) whichwithdraws 'the projection 8 from the aperture 9 in the blade, when it isfree to be closed, it being merely necessary to continue the pressure onthe projection Z until in moving the blade the aperture 9 is carried outof line with the projection 8. v

The operation of closing the blade serves to wind up the spring h, andwhen the blade is within the handle, as seen in Fig. 1, the pro jection8 springs into an aperture, 13, (similar to that9) in the heel of theblade, and the latter is thus securely locked in place, the twoapertures 9 l3 and pin a being in line with each other and longitudinalwith the center of the knife.

When it is desired to use the knife, it is simply necessary to hold itin one hand and press in the projection Zof the lever iwith the end ofthe thumb, which withdraws the projection 8 from the aperture 13 of theblade, when the latter is instantly thrown out by the automatic actionof the spring 71. into a position ready for use, (see Fig. 2,) where itis securely locked by the projection 8 springing into the aperture 9, asbefore stated.

The spring m of the catch-lever i is sufficiently stiff to resist anyordinary pressure while in the pocket, and thus prevent the liability ofthe blade being accidentally released and thrown out by its coiledspring h but, if desired, a slide can be'used to lock this catchleverwhen the knife is in the pocket, thus effectually precluding thepossibility of such an occurrence.

My improved knife is of simple construction and not liable to get outoforder, and will be found extremely convenient in many positions Wherebut one hand is at liberty, as it can be easily operated thereby.

I do not claim, broadly, a catch for locking the blade ofa knife in anopen or closed position, as such a device is shown in United StatesLetters Patent No. 195,319, granted to me September 18, 1877.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. The spring h, interposed between the heel of a pivoted blade, B, andthe adjacent portion of the handle A, for the purpose of automaticallythrowing open the blade, substan- In presence of- P E. TESOHEMACHER, N.W. STEARNs.

